Fitness

So, I have a video for you to watch. It is based on a game called Assassin's Creed and while, to be honest, I actually know very little about the game, the video is pretty sweet. Last I checked, Assassin's Creed was based in medieval times around this assassin. One of the interesting mechanics of the game is the ability to jump off of really high buildings, climb walls, and do crazy acrobatics. It also has beautiful graphics. This video is someone with parkour capabilities dressed like the character from Assassin's Creed.

Have you watched it? Really? I know I skim over videos and look at pictures instead, but this is cool, darn it! I'll have to tell you about the Piano Guys next.

But anyway, did you SEE that? Jumping over things, down things, up things. It's like special effects, but the guy is actually doing it. You've heard of Parkour, right? Parkour is a strange sort of sport that involves building climbing. Or, to quote Wikipedia, "Parkour is a training discipline that developed out of military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to move from one place to another, negotiating the obstacles in between. The discipline uses no equipment and is non-competitive."

Intense though. I jump around like that and my non-slip shoes slip and I land on my butt, or I land on my feet and hurt my ankles. How does he not hurt his ankles? I'd probably run face-first into a granite slab.

But my question is, can I do that? With lots of practice and so on? No, I don't want to take up parkour. People tend to not like you climbing on their buildings. But I've just accepted the concept of my body being more or less the way it is. I've considered trying to lose weight or pick up Zombies, Run! app for jogging incentive, but the grand goals of these are things like, "run a marathon." Not that I'm making fun of people who run marathons, especially since I am currently unable to run anywhere. But instead of aiming for marathon running, which, let's face it, actually sounds awful, could I aim for something more... elite?

At work, people my age will moan when they have to squat to fill tires and say, "I'm too old for this!" Ok, especially at twenty-five, you shouldn't be too old for it. If you think you are, you are letting yourself down, in my opinion. You are making the choice to move slower, to favor legs or knees... but if you pushed yourself, they might last longer. You're letting yourself get old.

So, to the reverse. Instead of getting old, could I pick up something intense? Could I train my body to the point where I could climb buildings? Do a martial art? Box? In a game I am currently playing they have a monk class. They roll, kick, punch, do stances. It's way cool and reminds me of what little I remember of Tae Kwon Do. Could I learn enough of a martial art to actually be able to use it for something? Is it possible to be anything like the movies? Well, not stuff like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That's just insane. But how much awesomeness is possibly somewhat obtainable? Could I hone my body until it is a tool instead of something more like a pet that I take care of and hope it turns out ok? Do I even really want to do it?

I'm moving on Saturday. Moving always makes me think of all the opportunities possible with starting at a new location. And I've had thoughts like this before, switching between a mild "feel good about myself" level of exercise and "go for gold" ideas of exercise (and, admittedly, where I'm currently at of "I don't want exercise to look at me").

People I know and people on Facebook are running. I hate running, but I want to be ABLE to run too.